Genius
by Lady Drama
Summary: Despite her cold demeanour and undisputed brilliance, Hotaru Imai was also a young girl. A Hotaru-centric fic exploring her life, lessons and love.


Hotaru Imai's entrance into Alice Academy was nowhere near as dramatic as her friend Mikan's. The Academy sent a representative to her house, who explained everything to her and told her to start packing. So she bid farewell to her friends and family and set out for the Academy, carrying a small, brightly coloured bag that Mikan had given her on her previous birthday.

Outwardly, Hotaru Imai never did display much emotion. She was a very private person and did not like sharing her thoughts with anyone. As a child, she had often faced kind strangers who invariably attempted to steal her latest inventions and plans. Her childish mind had seen through her parents' hurried lies and attempts to protect her by telling her that the strangers had not meant it, that there had been a mistake.

By the time she was 5 years old, Hotaru Imai fully understood the hypocrisy of human nature.

A precocious child with a thirst for knowledge, she had been top of her class for as long as she could remember. But what she could never recall was when the glances directed towards her by the other children stopped being admiring and turned jealous. They could not beat her genius, no matter how hard they tried. Their disappointment turned to resentment and she bore the brunt of it.

It was then that Hotaru learnt how unreliable human beings could be; how they could turn from affable allies to bitter enemies in the blink of an eye. She found her refuge in money. At least that was something that never changed, retained its value and never made promises it wouldn't keep.

Then Hotaru met Mikan Sakura and her cheerful (and often foolish) optimism. They spent hours together. Hotaru never encouraged Mikan to linger yet the other girl spent hours tagging behind her, chattering away. Hotaru was unsure of how to react to such an unreserved offer of friendship. It was something that had never been offered to her before. It wasn't until she entered the Academy that Hotaru realized how much her almost-friend had meant to her. She attempted to create an electronic substitute, Amanatsu, but it wasn't quite the same thing.

And so Hotaru learnt yet another lesson – Loss is something we all have to deal with. Her teacher, Narumi-sensei introduced her as a new student, gave her a friendly smile and told her to sit next to Yuu Tobita, the Class Monitor. The other students of class 2B whispered, 'cold', 'arrogant', 'prodigy', 'rude', 'talented', 'smart'. But their praise or criticism was a matter of indifference to her. She had quickly scanned the room and realized, with a sinking heart, that there was no Mikan Sakura to be found. She spent the first lesson stoically staring at the teacher and avoiding eye contact with anyone. She didn't want them to see her suspiciously glittery eyes.

As the bell rang and the other students rushed out for break, Yuu turned towards her and held out a hand. He was nervous and shy. His brow furrowed as he spoke and he stammered slightly, blushing when she answered him. To her surprise, Hotaru found that she liked him. He was intelligent and soft spoken. But Hotaru held herself back and steeled herself for the displeasure in his eyes when the next week's exam results were read out. She did not attend class that day. Instead she took special permission from Narumi-sensei to work on a project in her newly constructed lab and hid there till evening. On her way back to her dormitory, she found Yuu arguing with Narumi-sensei. He broke off when he saw her and cried out in relief. "I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been? You topped the exam!"

She braced herself for his next words, sure that their fledgling friendship was about to end. Instead he beamed and handed her her perfect answer sheet.

Hotaru saw that day that humanity wasn't good or bad as a whole. Shades of gray were what coloured the landscape of life. People were not perfect, they were simply themselves. They had their faults but they also had their merits.

Her belief in this was further strengthened when she met Natsume Hyuuga. Natsume was the ideal son, brother, friend, assassin and rebel. His contradictions made him unsure of himself and his insecurity required a rough façade as cover.

Then came Ruka Nogi, upsetting her cool calculations and making her doubt her hard learnt lessons. His golden hair and cerulean eyes could make a model weep. Even his manners were polite and personality amiable. As if to further amuse herself, Fate also made him intelligent and rich.

But it wasn't any of those obvious characteristics that made Hotaru fall prey to uncertainty. It was his kindness. He was nice to everyone he met, whether they deserved it or not, whether they were man or beast. It was this often spoken of but seldom seen trait that made intrigued her.

Ruka was the proverbial Prince Charming and predictably enough he fell in love with Mikan, Class 2-B's unofficial Princess. She was naïve, attractive, girlish, cute and sweet.

Hotaru discovered a new emotion, stronger than any that she had ever encountered before: _Jealousy_.

The girl's crush grew stronger and she expressed it in her own unique way. She clicked pictures of him and sold them, knowing it embarrassed him. She made sure that she was in his sight when she pressed the camera's button, so that he would chase her. It was her version of hair pulling.

Soon, to her infinite disgust, her own creations began to pay tribute to him. Most of her inventions were shaped like animals; they had been designed while thoughts of him and his Animal Pheromone Alice drifted across her mind. The first time she noticed this, she almost destroyed the machine in shock and horror. Only the knowledge that her precious money was at stake stopped her from doing so.

As they grew older and entered Middle School, Hotaru thought she saw him look her way ever so often. But a quick scan with her newest software revealed that the object of his attention was still her best friend. She was bitterly disappointed and determined not to let it show. She spent the day in her lab and at the end of it resolved to let her crush fade away.

At first it hurt. Mikan and Ruka started officially dating after a month and strangely, this comforted Hotaru. She had been wise enough to let him go while she still could. She was proud of herself.

Her own experience with unrequited love made her softer and she went out briefly with Hayate. He made her laugh and she enjoyed their dates. But they were always friends and nothing more.

Teenage brought with it its own set of problems. Hotaru made a fortune patenting and selling an incredibly effective Anti-Acne Cream. Her moods fluctuated as wildly as any other teens' but she headed to her lab for a couple of hours of sim-fighting as soon she felt her temper peak. With Mikan and Yuu's encouragement, she began to open up a little and became a part of the former Class 2-B's group. Hotaru now listened to Sumire's make up tips, laughed at Koko's ludicrous gossip, enjoyed Mochu's hard rock bands, ate Anna's delicious cakes, helped Nonoko with her crazy experiments, quietly supported Nobara's efforts to free herself from Persona and helped Natsume negotiate his way to Mikan's heart. She kissed for the first time and danced the night away on her Prom. Her relationship with her brother gradually improved. Her inventions won top awards and made her richer than even she had anticipated. She embarked on crazy ventures with her friends. From the major to the minor, these adventures were without exception exceedingly tiresome while they lasted and chuckled at when looked back upon.

Hotaru found that life was not merely to be lived – it was to be _enjoyed_.

Her last year at the Academy was tumultuous. All three of the Alice Academy's Principals resigned and disappeared. The AAO scattered and were never heard of again. Many would just have to wonder how these strange events had come about and what had really happened but she knew that none of it would have been possible without Yuka, Mikan, the High School Principle, Natsume, Narumi-sensei, Ruka and many more unnamed but no less important heroes in the underground battle that had taken place behind the Academy walls.

Hotaru tasted sweet victory, made even better by the fact that it was shared.

A week before graduation, her parents showed up at her school. They were amazed by the changes time had wrought in their daughter. Gone were the emotionless violet eyes and cold mask that her face had been. She was still an introvert but her eyes now shone with delight as she looked at them. She was as polite as ever but now her manners had an ease to them rather than mechanical civility. Her smile was still rare but when it burst through, it transformed her whole face and stunned her parents. They were awed by how much their little girl had grown.

Hotaru's mother hesitantly handed her a dress that she had picked out for her graduation party and hastily added that she didn't need to wear it if she didn't want to. Hotaru thanked her mother for the dress and wore it to the event. Her mother almost cried while taking pictures. She bore it all patiently and then they accompanied her to the hall where the celebration was being held. Hotaru introduced them to her friends and slipped away soon after. She still found elaborate bashes a little too noisy and bright for her taste but attended them anyway to please her friends and network with potential business partners.

She found someone else standing in the Academy's manicured lawns. Ruka's blonde hair was gently ruffled by the wind as he gazed at the stars above. When he saw her, he smiled and to her infinite disgust her heart gave a small leap. Quelling it she moved forward and stood next to him. For a while, they simply stood there, soaking the moonlight and the beauty of the stars while laughter and chatter from the party reverberated in their ears.

Almost unconsciously, they clasped hands as a shooting star shot past them. She closed her eyes and wished for a brilliant future beyond the Academy's gates, in the world she would soon enter.

Ruka let go of her hand and they walked back to the hall together. Koko had just opened a bottle of champagne and the cork hit Natsume on the head. He was currently chasing the mind reader around the hall while Mikan screamed at him and Mochu tried to calm all of them down. Anna, Yuu, Nonoko and Nobara were laughing at something Sumire's dad told them while Sumire whined "Dad! That was long ago!"

Hotaru poured two glasses of the now infamous champagne and handed one to Ruka. They raised their glasses and pronounced their toasts:

"_To Alice Academy"_

"_To life"_

**-FIN-**

_AN: I know I've changed a couple of things from the manga version of events but it just seemed to fit the story better that way._

_Thanks for reading!_


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